The European Court of Justice rules that pharmaceutical laboratories liable to a tax on direct sales of medicines are entitled to claim the reimbursement of the tax where the exemption of wholesale distributors constitute an illegal State aid (Boiron)

Opinion of Advocate General Antonio Tizzano, 30 March 2006
EU Court of Justice, Laboratoires Boiron, Case C-526/04, 7 September 2006
In a preliminary ruling requested by the French Civil Supreme Court in the Boiron case, the ECJ rules that pharmaceutical laboratories liable to a tax on direct sales of medicines are entitled to claim the reimbursement of the tax where the exemption of wholesale distributors constitute an illegal State aid. For the application of States aids rules, national courts are invited to use all relevant proceedings to ease the proof of the existence of overcompensation of public service charges amounting to State aid. Background
According to settled case law, national courts have jurisdiction to suspend the implementation of a national measure in the event

Authors

Quotation

Noëlle Lenoir, Dan Roskis, The European Court of Justice rules that pharmaceutical laboratories liable to a tax on direct sales of medicines are entitled to claim the reimbursement of the tax where the exemption of wholesale distributors constitute an illegal State aid (Boiron),
7 September 2006,
e-Competitions Bulletin Competition in the Pharmaceutical sector, Art. N° 12429